


Games People Play

by anxietywrites



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Sports, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artist Steve Rogers, Baseball Player Bucky, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Catcher Bucky Barnes, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Slow Burn, Steve gives him hugs, Tony Stark Has A Heart, it just takes like 5ever, on second thought it might be, that's not an innuendo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 15:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19253656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxietywrites/pseuds/anxietywrites
Summary: Bucky and Steve have to separate for college. Bucky to Hydra University on a baseball scholarship, Steve to NYU to study art.Years later, after losing contact with each other, and one heck of a college story, Bucky finds himself back in New York, playing professional baseball.





	Games People Play

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! I had posted this earlier, but it was called Drive. The first two chapters have been combined into one, and I have many more plans for this one than I did the earlier version of this. 
> 
> Chapters will probably be posted pretty sporadically, but they'll get done! 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Edit: if you've read this, the only change I've made is to change UCLA (Bucky's school) to Hydra University. It will make sense later :)

It was the night before Bucky was to leave for college. Him and Steve managed to get back into their usual shenanigans, and having snuck out of both of their houses respectively (their parents probably knew, and most likely didn’t mind _too_ much), Bucky and Steve found themselves driving down the empty back roads around 2 in the morning, no destination. They don’t need to say anything. The shared time together, the music playing in the background, that’s enough. It’s only a short amount of time before they’re apart for a while. While it was never spoken, they wanted to spend all of their last minutes together before one of them had to go.

 

Bucky finally peels his eyes off the road to look at Steve, who is sitting in the passenger seat of Bucky’s old car that he had to save up his work money for for years. It was worth it, for moments like this, he thinks. Steve has his eyes closed, not sleeping, but he’s drumming his fingers along to the beat of the music he chose, something obscure, but Bucky wouldn’t change it for the world.

 

Bucky really was trying to keep his eyes on the road, but he was failing miserably. Steve opened his eyes and his eyes met Bucky’s.

 

“Buck, look at the road. Don’t wanna die out here do we?” Steve says, taking on a joking tone. He knows they won’t.

 

Bucky’s eyes, maybe it was conscious and maybe it wasn’t, fall to Steve’s lips as he speaks. He lets out a breathy laugh, “As if there’s anything to get us out here anyways.”

 

“Your horrible driving skills beg to differ.” Steve jokes. They both know he’s kidding.

 

“Punk, you know I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” He means it more than he lets on, and Steve tenses. Bucky realized his mistake. Steve didn’t need protecting, that was his usual argument. “Your mom would kill me first.” Bucky finishes, lightening the mood. He turns back to watch the road, figuring it’s probably best to not stare at his best friend for too long. He’d been caught once already.

 

Steve relaxes, says nothing, but looks just as intensely at Bucky when Bucky stares straight ahead at the road again. Bucky doesn’t notice.

 

Talking about college would be too weird. They were about to be as far apart as they could be. Steve at NYU, Bucky all the way out in California on a baseball scholarship. For the first time, Bucky realized there might not be anything to talk about. They had closed off this chapter of their lives, for a little bit. It felt weird, knowing that he was about to begin the only chapter of his life so far that Steve wouldn’t be right by his side in.

 

Not that Steve wouldn’t be there. He just wouldn’t be _there._ Physically. The more Bucky thought about it, the less he wanted to go. If he could just stay by his best friend’s side for the rest of their lives— but he can’t. He signed up for this.

 

He was excited to go, but sorry to leave. It would be a whole new world out there in California, and while part of him was itching to go, there was a voice in the back of his head asking, _is this really it for you?_ He didn’t know the answer. What he did know, was that he was basically halfway in love with Steve, and leaving him would be the worst kind of heartbreak, and he hadn’t even had a real relationship in years.

 

While lost in his thoughts, Bucky realized he missed the turns he needed to take to get Steve home. He took one look at Steve, who turned his head to look back, and smiled. So what? They can drive for a little while longer. After all, they have the rest of their lives to find their destination.

 

Eventually, though, they did have to get back home. Steve seemed hesitant to leave, and Bucky really was too.

 

“Thanks for sneaking out with me.” Steve said. The air grew tense.

 

“It was your idea, punk. I’ll sneak out with you anytime. See you tomorrow?”

 

“See you tomorrow, jerk.” Steve said, getting out of the car. He took one more look at Bucky before walking up the length of his driveway.

 

As Steve was unlocking his front door, _his front door? He’s asking to get caught_ , Bucky thought. He didn’t leave the driveway of their house just yet. He thumped his head against the headrest of his seat. “I should have told him.” He said. He pulled away from Steve’s and started the short drive back to his house.

 

He’d—maybe—do it tomorrow. But what kind of goodbye is that? _Hey, Steve, I know I’m going like thousands of miles away in about 20 minutes but you need to know that I’m in love with you and have been since, I don’t know, forever? Anyways, have fun in college! Smooth, Barnes. Real smooth._

 

He snuck back into his house through his window and flopped down onto his bed. If he didn’t sleep, that was for him to know.

 

Little did he know, Steve wasn’t sleeping either.

 

 oOo

 

As they were driving, Steve resorted to keeping his eyes closed so he wasn’t tempted to stare at Bucky the whole time. He knew he would. It would be the last he maybe ever sees of the boy he knows he’s halfway in love with.

 

Not that Steve was about to tell him. He’d rather have Bucky in his life as a friend and a friend only than not at all. He kept his breathing evened but in reality, he knew this was coming to an end.

 

He felt Bucky watching him, and he opened his eyes and finally spoke the first words of the drive so far. “Buck, look at the road. Don’t wanna die out here do we?” He smiled so Bucky would know he’s joking. Bucky’s the better driver of the two of them, and Steve can’t see all that well in the dark anyways.

 

“As if there’s anything to get us out here anyways.” Bucky breathed out, but he was still looking at Steve.

 

Steve refocused his gaze on the deserted road in front of them. “Your horrible driving skills would beg to differ.” He laughed a little. Both of them knew Steve was kidding.

 

“Punk, you know I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” Bucky said, and Steve tensed. Why would he say that? For the first time, Steve didn’t think _I don’t need protecting._ He thought, _I know that._ Bucky said something else, and Steve let out a laugh, but went back to his thoughts.

 

The harsh reality of it was, Bucky was leaving to California on a baseball scholarship in less than twelve hours, and Steve was staying behind to go to art school, and they might be less than three feet apart in this car, but Steve has never felt farther from his best friend.

 

He can’t say that, though. He can’t make Bucky feel bad for chasing his dream, not when it’s really all he’s wanted since he was little. He was there throughout Bucky’s whole recruiting process, went to all of his games and gave Bucky some admittedly questionable advice, but he was still there. He was there when the first scout showed up, and Bucky didn’t do as well as he wanted to. He listened to Bucky’s frustrations after, and the next time, when Bucky played much, much better, he listened to Bucky’s wondering whispers through the phone of “Maybe this’ll be it, Stevie.” He was there when Bucky signed his letter of intent to go all the way out to fucking California, and he put a smile on his face.

 

He remembers the headlines on the newspaper: Bucky Barnes, Star Catcher for Brooklyn High, Signs with Hydra University in California.

 

He really is happy for Bucky, he might have been more excited than Bucky was when he got the offer from Hydra. But after Bucky signed that letter, Steve realized he may have just lost his best friend to 2,791 miles and a 5 hour plane ride, at best.

 

He turns his head to look at Bucky, expecting to see his eyes but instead, Bucky’s focused on the road and they’re back to how they started. Steve doesn’t let himself look away yet. The clock on the dashboard reads 2:47 am. Steve doesn’t want to go home. Doesn’t want to wake up tomorrow and have to see Bucky drive to the airport.

 

He’d never voice the fear, out of fear of sounding stupid and needy, but he didn’t want to lose Bucky. His fears are irrational, he knows. He won’t truly lose Bucky. It’ll just be weird not having him physically there.

 

What if, for some weird reason, they grow apart? Make different friends, and this is the last they see of each other?

 

What if Steve never gets to tell Bucky how he— _nope. Don’t start down that spiral yet,_ Steve thought, _You got the rest of your life for that one._

 

He shook his head, got out of his thoughts, and turned to look at Bucky again, to find him looking right back at Steve.

 

He realized Bucky missed the turn to get home. It was okay, though. They’d find their way back eventually.

 

When Steve finally made it back inside his house, he (unsurprisingly) found his mom waiting up for him. He had told her what was going on. He figured he might be in a spiral when he got home, but he knew Bucky couldn’t get him out of this one. And spiraling he was.

 

“So? How was it?” She asked. 

 

“It was fine. We didn’t talk much.” He said.

 

Sarah Rogers’ eyebrows came together with concern. She waited for her son to continue.

 

“It was just too weird, I mean, he’s going thousands of miles away in less than twelve hours.”

 

She kept waiting. But what she heard nearly broke her heart, even thought she knew it already. Steve wasn’t as subtle as he thought he was.

 

“I love him, mom.” She knew that. “I love him, and I don’t want to let him go”


End file.
